Stringing piano-fortes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. F. HELLIG. Stringing Piano Fortes.

No. 238,898. Patented March I5, 1881.

2 SheetsSheet 2. A. F. HELLIG. Stringing Piano Fortes.

No. 238,898. Patented March 15,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT F. HELLIG, OF LITTLE FERRY, NE\V JERSEY.

STRINGING PIANO-FORTES.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 238,898, dated March15, 1881.

Application filed February 26, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT F. HELLIG, ofLittle Ferry, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsin Piano-Fortes and otherStringed Musical Instruments; and Ido hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification.

While my invention is chiefly applicable to piano-fortes, it is by nomeans limited thereto, but may be applied with equal advantage tozithers, harps, violins, violoncellos, and all stringed musicalinstruments generally. In the following specification, however, I havedescribed my invention as especially applied to a piano.

The generally-adopted method of stringing and tuning pianos and otherstringed musical instruments consists, as is well known,in winding thestrings upon or around pins, (called in a piano tuning-pins,) by turningthe said pins, like screws, within the smooth bores or sockets in thewrest-board or tuning-stock into which they are inserted, the pinshaving been driven forcibly into said board or stock, in order toprovide the necessary friction to cause them to remain firmly in anygiven position and resist the tension of the strings. This method isobjectionable, experience having demonstrated that the friction in thismanner imparted to the tuning-pins, and upon which they rely for theirresistance in respect of the unwinding tendency of the strings, is initself unequal, and therefore more or less uncontrollable andunadjustable; besides, it is often inadequate to resist this tendency ofthe tension of the strings to unscrew or loosen the tuning-pins,especially after the piano has been tuned repeatedly, and the pins thusturned more or less in their respective bores or sockets and loosenedtherein from the in creased smoothness of said bores, which, of course,puts the instrument out of tune. Again, the pins thus depending upontheir frictional contact with the wrest-board or tuning-stock into whichthey are inserted for the rigidity of their adjusted position, it isdifficult to effect this adjustment with that micrometrical degree ofnicety and exactness which is requisite to the proper tuning of theinstrument.

The object of my invention is to provide piano-fortes and other stringedmusical instruments with an improved device for stringing and tuningwhich does not depend upon the frictional resistance of tuning-pinswithin the wrest-board or tuning-stock in the manner aforesaid, andwhich is susceptible of the highest degree of accuracy in the tuning andadjustment of the pitch.

To this end my invention consists in the construction of a stringing andtuning mechanism or device to take the place of the tuning-pins, whichis inserted, removably, into the Wrestboard or tuning-stock, thelongitudinal axis of the said mechanism or device being in the sameplane as the axis of the connecting end of the string, wherebycentraldirection of the tension of the string to the stringing and tuningdevice is secured. The said device is stationary in the wrest-board ortuning-stock, the strings depending upon a central and rectilineal andnot a tangential (peripherical) and rotary mo tion for their adjustment,which said rectilineal motion of the adjusting device is within a planecoinciding with the longitudinal axis of the connecting end of thestring operated upon, a principle which, as carried out in myimprovement, admits of the utmost nicety and micrometrical precision inthe adjustment, as well as of ease and facility in efi'ecting theadjustment, or, in other words, in tuning or adjusting the pitch of theinstrument.

In the two sheets of drawings hereto annexed, Figures 1 and 2 areperspective views, from opposite standpoints, of a device embodying myimprovement. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section. Figs. 4 and 5are similar sections, showing the adjusting mechanism in two differentstages of operation or positions. Fig. Gisa perspective rear view of thetubular standard detached from the wrest board or tuning-stock and adusting mechanism. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 represent longitudinal sectionsillustrative of a modified construction of my mechanism or device. Fig.0 is a crosssection through line or a", Fig. 7. Fig. 11 is across-section through line y y, Fig. 8. Fig. 12 is a similar sectionthrough line 2 c, Fig. 9;

and Fig. 13 is a perspective View of the adjusting mechanism used incombination with the tubular standard represented in Fig. 6 detachedfrom said standard.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

A is the wrest-board, which is provided near one end with a solid pin,a, to which the string b is fastened, and also with two small blocks, 0c, supporting the strings, and, finally, near its other end, with thestringing and tuning device (I. This consists of a standard which isinserted loosely into a hole or socket bored in the wrest-board for itsreception, so that it can be easily taken out and again replaced. Meansare, however, (as hereinafter shown,) provided for preventing saidstandard from turning in its bore or socket. The standard d is providedwith an adjusting mechanism, which is composed of a female screw or nut,and an appertaining male screw-bolt in operative connection orcombination with each other and with the standard.

I prefer to construct the stationary but removable stringing and tuningmechanism as follows:

I use a straighttubular standard, c,havinga longitudinal slot, f,running from end to end, and also diametrically opposite to said slot, asmall eye or aperture, g, so placed that when the standard isinsertedinto its bore or socket in the wrest-board or tuning stock thiseye shall be just above or flush with the surface of the board or ironplate or frame of the piano-forte. In the upper end of the tubularstandard 0 is inserted a small pin or bridgepiece, h, facing ascrew-bolt, k, one side of which, facing the said pin or bridge-piece hand the aperture g, is filed oft flat and smooth, to prevent it (thebolt) from turning within the tube 6, into which it is inserted.

z' is a female screw or nut-,which is supported by and rests upon theupper rim of the tubular standard 6, and into which the male screwboltis inserted. It follows that by turning or rotating said nut i bolt isis worked up or down within its tube.

Near the lower end of bolt his a diametrical eye or aperture, m, in thesame vertical plane as the eye 9 and slot f in the standard, throughwhich the end of the string, having first been inserted through eye g,is inserted and prevented from slipping back by a sharp hook or twist,0, which is so formed that it will also serve as an additional guide forthe screw-bolt k, by projecting into the slot f of the tubular standardor out through the said slot. If desired, this projecting twist, hook,or knot 0 may, therefore, serve as a substitute for the pin orbridge-piece h by preventing the screwbolt from turning within itstubular standard.

When this form of standard is used, I prevent it from turning in itsbore or socket in the wrest-board or tuning-stock byinserting a pin, a,obliquely into the socket, which will register with slot f, so that itforms no obstacle fortheinsertion'into or removalfrom the wrest-board ortuning-stock of the standard; but dift'erently-construeted standards maybe made without deviating from the spirit of my inventionfor example,standards that are rectangular or square in cross-section, or providedwith a rectangular or square tcnon at their lower end fitting into acorrespondinglyshaped socket in the wrest-board or tuningstock toprevent them from turning. Nor need the standard be tubular andstraight, (although this is, for its convenience and cheapness, the formwhich I prefer,) for it will readily be seen that it may be made solidat its lower end,

with a projecting tubular head supporting upon its upper rim the nut t,and serving as a bearing for the screw-bolt 7;, as shown in Fig. 7.Again, instead of attaching the end or ends of the string to the lowerend of the male screw L, and operating said screw by turning the femalescrew or nut 71, this arrangement may be reversed, as represented inFigs. 8 and 9, without deviating from the spirit of my invention.

In the modifications represented in the lastnamed two figures, and intheir corresponding transverse sections, Figs. 11 and 12, the end (orends) of the string 1) is secured in the nut 43, which is slotted toreceive the standard a, through whose projecting tubular head 0 thescrew-bolt is inserted, its lower end being fitted into the threadedaperture in nut t",whilc its upper end is provided with a square head,7a, which corresponds to the nut 13 represented in the remaining figuresof the drawings. By turning this head with a key, wrench, or any othersuitable implement, the nut t" may be worked up or down upon itsstandard, drawing the end of the string with it until the proper degreeof tension has been obtained.

Instead of slotting nut i in the manner described to fit upon itsstandard 0, it may be made with a dovetailed projection, fitting into acorrespondingly-shaped longitudinal groove or channel in the standard.The position of the nut in respect of its standard may be reversed, asshown in Figs. 9 and 12; and, again, when a nut at the upper end of themale screw and its standard is employed, as in Figs. 1,2, 3, 4, 5, and7, the screw, instead of flattening upon one side, may be groovedlongitudinally and prevented from turning by inserting a pin, it,through the standard, as shown more clearly in F1 10, the inner point ofwhich projects into the groovein the screw-bolt, operating in preciselythe same manner as the pin or bridgepiece h, which is used incombination with a flattened screw.

The mode of stringing, tuning, and adj ustin g the pitch of piano-fortesand other stringed musical instruments with this device is as follows:To string the instrument, the standard, with its adjusting mechanism, istaken out of its bore or socket in the wrest-board or tunin stock, afterwhich its bolt 75 is so adjusted by turning nut i (or conversely) thatits eye shall IIO be opposite to and register with, or be in the closestpossible proximity to, the eye or aperture in the standard. Then thestring, after its length has been adjusted as closely as possible orpracticable, is fastened at one end to the pin a, in the usual manner,and its free end or ends (the string being either single or double) isor are inserted through the previouslyadjusted eyes or apertures g m,and bent or hooked in the manner hereinbefore stated, so as to fasten itsecurely to the bolt 70 or nut i, as the case may be. The standard, withits adjustin g mechanism, havingthe string attached, is then reinsertedinto its proper bore or socket in the wrest-board or tuning-stock, whichwill bring the string into the positionshown in Figs.

' 1,2, 3, 4, 7, S, and 9 of the drawings, after which the tension of thestring is adjusted to effect its proper tuning by turning either the nuti or bolt-head k, as the case may be, with a wrench or key, which drawsthe end of the string up, as represented in Fig. 5, until its tensionand tune are properly adjusted. Whenever the instrument should requiretuning, or, rather, adjustment of pitch, this is efi'ected in thismanner by simply turnin g the tuning-head upon the stationary standard,which requires little power, and can be accomplished with mierometricalnicety and exactness.

Where this invention is applied to gutstringed instruments it isadvisable, in order to prevent the gut string from being injured or outwhile being drawn through the eye gin the standard, to attach to thestringing and tuning device a short piece of wire string, in the manneras aforesaid, and then fasten the end of the gut string to the free endof the wire string which projects out through the eye g,- or thestringing and tuning device may be so placed or arranged in its relationto the tuning-stock into which it is inserted that its longitudinal axisshall be in a line with the longitudinal axis of the connecting end ofthe string, so that the string will be fastened directly to theadjusting mechanism without having first to go through the eye 9 in thestandard.

Having thus described my invention, I do not claim, broadly, thecombination, with the head of a stringing-standard or wrest-pin, anadjustable screw to which the string is attached in such manner that thedirection of the straining-force is mathematically true in the directionof the axis of the adjustable screw; but

I claim as my improvement and desire to secure by Letters Patent oftheUnited States- 1. The device for stringing, tuning, and adjustin gthe pitch of piano-fortes and other stringed musical instruments,composed of the tubular slotted standard 0, provided with an eye, g, andpin or bridgepiece h, screw-bolt 7r, flattened on the side facing thesaid pin or bridge-piece, and having an eye or aperture, m, at its lowerend, and female screw or nut 2', all constructed and combined to operatesubstantially in the manner and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. In a stringed musical instrument, the combination, with thewrest-board or tuningstock A and string 7), of the stringing and tuningdevice (I, composed of the detachable tubular slotted standard 0,provided with an eye, g, and pin or brid ge-piece h, screw-bolt k,flattened on the side facing the said pin or bridge-piece, and having aneye or aperture, m, at its lower end, and female screw or nut i,substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and specified.

3. In combination, the socketed wrest-board or tuning-stock A, pin a,projecting obliquely into the socket of said wrestboard or tuningstock,and detachable tubular slotted stringing and tuning standard 0,substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

In testimony that 1 claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT F. HELLIG.

itnesses:

Bernie T. Lnvnvnss, WILLIAM S. DonEMUs.

